ARABIAN Centres, the leading developer, owner and operator of international standard shopping malls in Saudi Arabia, announced the opening of Al Hamra Mall, a new retail destination in Riyadh that houses more than 167 retail and entertainment outlets. The 80,000 square meter shopping centre, located in AlKhaleej Area, Riyadh, is tailored to the emerging needs of customers and offers a strategic mix of retail, F&B, and entertainment choices. Convenience and accessibility are also key features of the newly opened Al Hamra Mall which offers easily navigated shopping spaces. Al Hamra Mall becomes Arabian Centres' sixth shopping centre in Riyadh and 19th across its kingdom-wide retail real estate portfolio, which currently boasts of approximately 1 million square meters of Gross Leasable Area (GLA), representing about 10% of total organized retail space in the kingdom. Having committed in 2015 to double its total GLA, Arabian Centres presses ahead with expansion and has opened two shopping centres since the beginning of 2016. As part of the program, the leading retail real estate firm aims to open 10 more retail destinations by 2018, and these projects range in size from 45,000 square meter to 165,000 square meter with launches spanning in cities such as Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran. Once completed, the new developments will double Arabian Centres' total portfolio to nearly two million square meters of GLA, reinforcing its position as the number-one malls developer and operator in Saudi Arabia. Khalid Al Jasser, Chief Executive Officer of Arabian Centres, said: "The latest addition to our portfolio underlines our strong commitment to further transform the retail sector in the kingdom, which is in many ways largely untapped. Today's announcement confirms the strong appetite for modern retail destinations in the kingdom, on par with international standards. As we press ahead with our expansion plan, the next few months will see us unveiling more exciting projects that are not just limited to big cities but also in Tier 2 cities." In addition to Al Hamra Mall, Arabian Centres owns and operates five other shopping centres in Riyadh that includes Salaam Mall, Al Nakheel Mall, Khurais Mall, Sahara Plaza, Tala Mall. In the Central region, the developer also owns Salma Mall in Hail and Al Nakheel Mall in Qassim.
